


A Liar and a Thief

by FeoplePeel



Series: Harry Potter Daily Prompts [17]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-27
Updated: 2012-03-27
Packaged: 2017-11-02 14:31:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeoplePeel/pseuds/FeoplePeel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt 045 - “I’m what your mother warned you about.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Liar and a Thief

**Author's Note:**

> I got stuck at the end, then inspired by Tigh's speech to Bulldog in BSG:  
> Tigh: Tell you a dirty little secret--the toughest part of getting played is losing your dignity. Feeling like you are not worth the oxygen you are sucking down. You get used to it. You start to believe it. You start to love it. It's like a bottle that never runs dry. You can keep reaching for it over and over and over again.  
> Adama: So, how do you put that bottle away, Saul?  
> Tigh: I don't know. One day, you just decide to...get up and walk out of your room.

_He lied, oh, he lied to me._

When she left the pub with Malfoy that night, she knew she would regret it in the morning. That was the nice thing about alcohol, Ginny mused, it let you know things without allowing you to care very much.

It was also the most singularly _terrible_ thing about alcohol, the redhead would later, and more adamantly, admit.

She woke up with cotton in her mouth and a hazy remembrance of the prior night. She couldn’t remember why she had chosen Malfoy as her partner for the lay-down-move-around, but clearly she had as she noted the shock of blonde hair still snoring softly beside her. She remembered fighting with Ron about, about something. Harry, probably. He was too afraid to ask again and she was too proud to beg. It kept going like that, in a circle, until she was sick.

Ten minutes later, she flushed the toilet she had rushed to. _Never think of sick when you’re hungover, Ginevra._ Ginny mentally scolded herself. She was annoyed when her inner voice reminded her of her mother.

When she reentered the room, Malfoy was awake, running a hand through his hair and blinking blearily. “Oh, I thought it was a nightmare.”

“Haha,” Ginny mocked, sorting out her clothes from the pile on the floor, “blood traitor or not, you just shagged a war hero, you lucky bastard.”

Draco smirked. “Yeah, that should make good presses. Ex-Girlfriend of Wizard Savior, Harry Potter, Deigns to Do the Boy Who,” the man seemed to struggle at this, “Who,”

“The Boy Who Has Been For _give_ n of War Crimes Despite Serious Mis _giv_ ings.”

Draco cringed. “Okay, that’s pushing it, a bit.”

Ginny shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll catch on.” She slipped into her underclothes from the previous night. “Do you remember what happened?”

The man took a great breath. “I remember you dragging me out, screaming something about a teddy bear. Then you tried to rip off my shirt in front of the pub.”

Ginny groaned, as some of her memories started to make more sense. “Yeah, Hermione’s going to lay into me for that one. It was Ted, not teddy bear. Ted is-”

“I really couldn’t care less, Weasley.” And Draco looked like he meant it. “You know how one night stands work, right?”

“No, I don’t often have them.” Ginny glared, still annoyed at being interrupted.

“Let me put it this way,” the man explained, “pillow talk is optional.”

She scoffed, throwing on her shirt and pants. “This is _not_ pillow talk. I just think even you deserve an explanation for why I anger-shagged you without warning.”

“Point. Though I should note that screaming, ‘I am going to fuck you so hard, you tosser’ is a fair enough warning, by my standards.”

“Counter-point.” Ginny responded, ignoring her rising blush. She examined herself in a nearby mirror. There were no marks on her skin, nothing she had to charm away. Looking at her chest, she rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. He was discreet, she’d give him that. 

Charming away the love bites on her breasts and stomach, she tried to call up some of her anger at Harry, from last night. It wasn’t helping. All Harry wanted was to take care of Ted. It was a silly notion and a selfish one, given Andromeda’s position. As usual, having no plan seemed like the best plan to Harry and Ron was behind him one-hundred percent.

Ginny was musing aloud by this point. Draco’s head peeked out of the doorway to the bathroom. He was mostly clothed, now and, to his credit, seemed intrigued. “Potter wants to take custody of a child away from his natural, pureblood, grandmother?”

“No, of course not.” Ginny scoffed. “I’m saying Harry doesn’t know what he wants and he’s thinking of half-baked ideas to pass the time.”

“So? Let him.” Draco waved a hand. “As long as he doesn’t follow through, what’s the harm?

“How bored do you have to be to just do whatever you feel like on a whim? No prospects, no plan. Just trying to get back whatever it was he felt during the war.” The redhead wrung her hands together, looking at her once-bed mate smiling earnestly. “ _That’s_ why it’s dangerous.”

“Fair enough.” Draco nodded, walking over to her. “But let me ask _you_ , what do you call _this_?”

“Just,” Ginny’s smile faded a bit. “Just passing the time, I suppose. Why are you defending him?”

“I’m not.” The blonde pulled a shirt over his head and sat on the bed. “It’s all of us. We’re all stuck. My parents are always scared, always looking over their shoulder. They landed on the right side of the war, twice. Why do you think you’d fare any better? You grew up with the battles, too.”

“How do we get out?”

“You lie.” Draco stood. His look was haunted. “Lie, tell them you’re okay until they believe it. Then one day you are.”

“Are you?” Ginny’s heart was pounding. “We, I mean. Does everyone get better?”

“I don’t know. After they believe you, all you can do is just wake up, take a bath and leave your house. I don’t _know_ what’s next, Weasley.”

“Well,” Ginny swallowed, “let me know if it’s good, okay?”

Draco left, shutting the door softly behind him. As Ginny dressed, she wondered how big the world, left unseen to her, was. 

How long it would take to travel it.

_You are born a liar and a thief._


End file.
